Physical properties such as bend strength or degree of deflection for various cutting tool materials are usually tested by first making a separate test piece, of similar material, and placing the test piece on two fulcrum points or cylinders and applying a load intermediate to the fulcrum points (this is often referred to as a 3-point bend test and disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,404,584 and 4,213,349). The test specimen must be sized to about 1/10.times.1/8.times.11/4 inches (see "Ceramic Cutting Tools Production, A Process Summary", by American Feldmuehle Corp., undated, page 2 and FIG. 4). In some cases the test piece may be placed in a 4-point bend test to analyze fracture strength. It should be emphasized that each of these methods requires the making of special specimens or test pieces to test the strength of the material and subject to uniaxial stress distribution. The specimens, being only a body of material similar to the product to be used, do not provide for direct testing of the product itself. Since such test specimens are ground by abrasive tools to the required shape, the ground specimen can never be identical to the product; grinding ensures that each specimen will be slightly different. Although the specimens are assumed to be identical in the prior art tests, for purposes of the strength tests they can never be truly identical. Grinding differences influence the accuracy of the test. It would be advantageous if the ceramic product to be used were to be directly tested not only for rupture strength but also for edge chip strength. Direct testing uses the greater mass of the product to give better probability of accurate strength values and responds to the peculiar grinding characteristics in the material and any inherent flaws. Tool bits have a greater mass than conventional test specimens and are relatively stout. Hence, testing tool bits presents special problems when attempting to obtain reliable test results. No device has been devised by the prior art to accomplish this.